Face to face saint (2)
The pattering rain continued to ring in our ears, and the cold wind, mixed with moisture, seeped in through the gaps in the carved window frames, leaving a damp and chilly feeling on everyone's face.
Inside the Zichen Palace, the candlelight flickered and trembled in the cold wind blowing through the hall, as if it would be extinguished at any moment.
As soon as Zhou Yanzhi finished speaking, three thunderclaps suddenly erupted outside the hall.
"Boom—"
"Boom—"
"Boom!"
A blinding flash of lightning instantly tore through the thick clouds, illuminating the hall so brightly that it even eclipsed the flickering candlelight.
Emperor Zhaowen's gloomy face appeared even more severe in the lightning, his brows furrowed, which, in Zhou Yanzhi's eyes, was even more terrifying than the thunder outside the palace.
In an instant, the lightning subsided, and the hall was once again bathed in the warm glow of candlelight. Emperor Zhaowen slowly concealed the sternness in his eyes and said calmly, "I see. Is there anything else?"
His tone was unreadable, as if he weren't the one who had been poisoned.
Zhou Yanzhi's long eyelashes trembled slightly before he continued, "The 'Moon Gazing Powder' was introduced to the capital and renamed 'Ice Punishment,' but it was mostly used in brothels and entertainment venues to add excitement and fun."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaowen let out a very soft chuckle, the tone of which was neither mockery nor disdain: "Continue, tell me about the situation in Yangqu and Danzhou."
“Yes,” Zhou Yanzhi replied, glancing quickly at the person at the head of the table before lowering his eyes again. “Ce’an discovered a private army camp in Yangqu. Yang Hui, the governor of Yangqu, was killed by Ce’an. The situation was urgent, so Ce’an had no choice but to transfer troops from Jizhou to guard the camp.”
Emperor Zhaowen tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and asked, "Then who is currently guarding Yangqu?"
Zhou Yanzhi said earnestly, "It is General Liu Su from back then."
"So it's Liu Su..."
Upon hearing this name, Emperor Zhaowen concealed the fleeting murderous intent in his eyes and softened his tone: "You did well, continue."
The rain outside was pouring down, pounding against the glazed tiles, which made the interior of the hall even more solemn.
Inside the room, Zhou Yanzhi's voice remained calm, though he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He continued, "As Ce'an delved deeper into the investigation, they discovered that the three million taels of silver allocated to Yangqu last year were not used for disaster relief. One million taels of silver were even transported to Danzhou, and then 500,000 taels were taken out and transported to the capital to frame Marquis Jin'an."
"Secondly, when Ce'an was in Danzhou, he discovered that the governor of Danzhou, Zhang Xu, was colluding with the Northern Barbarians, and the governor's mansion was full of Northern Barbarians in disguise."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaowen frowned sharply, his anger turning into a forced laugh as he nodded repeatedly, his voice icy: "Good, good, very good! This is my trusted minister?"
After saying that, there were several more heart-wrenching coughs, as if he was coughing up his heart, liver, and lungs.
"Aiding...aiding and abetting evil, cough cough...harming loyal and virtuous people, it's practically undermining the very foundation of the Great Zhao! Cough cough cough..."
Sensing the emperor's fury, Zhou Yanzhi quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Ce'an and the Xiao family army have annihilated the Northern Barbarians. The Great Zhao territory is safe for the time being. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
After a moment of silence, Emperor Zhaowen's breathing gradually calmed down, and he said in a deep voice, "Now that it has been dealt with, that's good. Have the governors of Yangqu and Danzhou revealed who was behind it?"
"this……"
Zhou Yanzhi paused, his expression somewhat hesitant.
"Speak plainly!" Emperor Zhaowen's voice suddenly deepened, carrying an unquestionable authority.
Zhou Yanzhi took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind: "Based on the clues, the person behind it should be from the capital, and... she is a woman of high status, and has connections with the Shadow Pavilion."
"Oh."
He had barely finished speaking when a cold laugh suddenly came from the head of the table, followed by the crisp sound of shattering porcelain—
"Crack!"
A fine Ru ware porcelain cup was slammed to the ground, shattering into countless pieces.
Emperor Zhaowen coughed twice, his chest heaving violently, and said angrily, "Zhou Ce'an! I hereby issue you an imperial decree, ordering you to find out this cowardly creature before the Flower Goddess Banquet!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanzhi felt a chill run down his spine.
The Emperor's decree is as if the Emperor himself were present; whoever carries it may execute first and report later! This time, His Majesty is truly enraged.
He quickly bowed his head and kowtowed, replying, "Your subject obeys!"
As Zhou Yanzhi was about to turn and leave after receiving the gilded token from Eunuch Fu, Emperor Zhaowen's deep voice echoed in the hall again: "Ce'an, besides this, do you have anything else to report to me?"
Zhou Yanzhi paused, turned around and looked up. Under Emperor Zhaowen's gaze, he slowly spoke: "Ce'an does indeed have something to report."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhaowen's expression darkened.
"explain!"
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yanzhi spoke: "Ce'an encountered Xiao Jiangsheng, but did not arrest him."
In an instant, the atmosphere in the Zichen Palace suddenly became heavy. Eunuch Fu, who was standing to the side, felt a tremor in his heart and couldn't help but glance at the emperor leaning against the soft pillow out of the corner of his eye.
Surprisingly, Emperor Zhaowen did not say anything, but simply closed his eyes slightly, as if sighing, "So that's what it was about."
His tone was calm, which gave people the illusion that everything was peaceful, as if the chill down their back was just their imagination.
But……
The next second, Emperor Zhaowen smashed down a fine Duan inkstone, shattering the illusion.
"Zhou Ce'an! Do you still have me, the Emperor, in your heart?!"
When the emperor is enraged, corpses float for miles. Zhou Yanzhi dared not dodge, nor could he dodge, so he stood there stiffly, taking the blow head-on.
The inkstone, with its sharp edges, landed on Zhou Yanzhi's forehead, scraping off a chunk of flesh. Crimson blood gushed from the wound, running down his face and dripping onto his newly changed brocade robe.
The auspicious clouds are stained with blood; whether this is a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.
With a "thump".
Emperor Zhaowen did not hold back his attack. Zhou Yanzhi was hit so hard that his vision went black and his head was buzzing. He lost his balance and his knees slammed heavily onto the bluestone bricks.
Forcing himself to kneel properly, Zhou Yanzhi explained with difficulty, "Ce'an dares not."
“But Ce’an believes that since the Xiao family has been framed, if Xiao Jiangsheng is arrested, the mastermind behind it will probably target him. At that time, even if the Xiao family wants to clear their name, they will have no evidence to support it.”
"Moreover, since the Xiao family is innocent, and Xiao Jiangsheng is investigating the truth about the Xiao family's treason, a two-pronged approach may be able to uncover the truth more quickly."
Upon hearing his explanation, Emperor Zhaowen remained noncommittal.
He glanced at Zhou Yanzhi kneeling below and suddenly asked, "Ce'an, in your opinion, which has a higher status: the emperor's close ministers or the imperial family members?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ce'an felt a chill run down his spine.
It really is Song Baiyu!
He still went back to Beijing!
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yanzhi raised his eyes and replied in a deep voice, "In my opinion, whoever His Majesty values more will have a higher status."
Seeing that he understood his meaning, Emperor Zhaowen smiled and didn't mind being more explicit: "So, Ce'an, why did you imprison Compiler Song? Is it because you, as the heir apparent of Prince An, hold a higher position in my heart than him?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanzhi immediately kowtowed and said, "I dare not!"
"You dare not?"
Emperor Zhaowen tapped his finger on the table and suddenly shouted, "I dare you to do this!"
A buzzing sound filled his head. Just as Zhou Yanzhi was about to say something, a eunuch's voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall—
"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
Before anyone in the hall could react, a group of palace maids and matrons followed a figure into the hall.
The person surrounded in the center was dressed in a dark purple palace gown, with intricate auspicious patterns embroidered in gold thread. He wore a set of dove-blood red gemstone headdresses, and his phoenix eyes were so sharp that people dared not look directly at him.
This is the Empress Dowager of the current Zhao Dynasty.
When they reached the outside of the beaded curtain, the Empress Dowager raised her hand to signal the extra people to wait outside, and only took two or three old nannies into the inner room.
Upon hearing the eunuchs' chanting, Emperor Zhaowen quickly rose, bowed his head, and said, "Empress Dowager."
Seeing the figure kneeling on the ground, the Empress Dowager gestured to the nanny beside her to help Zhou Yanzhi up, while she herself bypassed the hand that Emperor Zhaowen reached out to help her.
Sitting in the seat where Emperor Zhaowen had previously sat, looking at the awkwardly standing Emperor Zhaowen, and then at Zhou Yanzhi, who was being helped up and whose face was covered in blood, the Empress Dowager spoke her first words since entering the hall: "Songhua, take Ce'an to the side hall and settle him in. Then send someone to the Imperial Hospital to invite Chief Physician Qi to come and treat him."
The old woman supporting Zhou Yanzhi bowed her head and said, "Yes."
The beaded curtain was tugged, making a crisp and melodious sound, but to Emperor Zhaowen, the sound was inexplicably jarring.
Seeing Zhou Yanzhi being helped away, the Empress Dowager waved to Emperor Zhaowen, saying, "Emperor, don't stand there, come and sit down." Then she turned to Eunuch Fu, who was standing to the side, and said, "You may also leave first."
Thus, in an eerie silence, Eunuch Fu went down with a pounding heart, while Emperor Zhaowen went up with a heart pounding like a drum.
Walking up to the Empress Dowager, and seeing that the cork couch was already occupied by her with nowhere to sit, Emperor Zhaowen said "Mother" again.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager lazily raised her eyes, beckoned him to lower his head, and her expression revealed neither joy nor anger.
Therefore, Emperor Zhaowen lowered his head with great trepidation. Then, amidst his increasingly rapid heartbeat, he heard a whooshing sound.
"Smack!"
A burning sensation immediately spread across my face.
Before Emperor Zhaowen could react, an uncontrollable metallic taste rose in his throat, and blood froth gently splattered onto the Empress Dowager's purple robes.
The Empress Dowager withdrew her hand, sensing the blood emanating from in front of her. She slightly lifted her eyelids and asked, "When you hit Ce'an, did you ever imagine that I would treat you like this?"
Emperor Zhaowen lowered his eyes and shook his head.
The Empress Dowager fiddled with her nail polish and continued, "Then do you feel wronged?"
Emperor Zhaowen paused, then shook his head.
"Very well, it seems you do have some self-awareness." The Empress Dowager smiled, but her tone suddenly turned serious: "So, please tell me, Emperor, how dare you treat Ce'an in such a way?!"
"If Ce'an hadn't been so late to Shou'an Palace, and I hadn't gotten so impatient that I came to Zichen Palace to check on him, would you still have thrown Ce'an into the Heavenly Prison?!"
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